South African billionaire businessman Freedom Phuthuma Nhleko is most popularly known as the former Chief Executive and Executive Chairman of MTN Group, a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company that primarily focused on Africa.
HOW IT BEGAN
Nhleko was born in Gauteng and attended St Marks High School, Swaziland for his ‘O’ Levels in 1977. He later graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1983, and MBA in Finance from Atlantic University, in 1987.
He founded Phembani in 1994, and then the Worldwide African Investment Holdings, an investment holding company which has interests in the petroleum, telecommunications, and information technology industries.
In 2002, Nhleko became the CEO of MTN Group and in 2007, He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for mobile phone operators. He served the board for a two-year term from January 2007.
Before then, he served as a senior member of the Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank, corporate finance team. He also practised as a Civil Engineer and Project Manager for the Urban Foundation, and was a senior Road Engineer for the Ministry of Works in Swaziland.
Nhleko is a director of Johnnic Holdings, Nedbank Group and Old Mutual SA. And in 2012, he founded the Phembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund with Johann Rupert.
Phuthuma Nhlekois is also the Chairman at JSE LIMITED and his net worth is currently at $156 059 as of 2023. While he was CEO of MTN Group, the organization, which employs 6,000 people, had a reported turnover of R29bn for the year ended March
HIS KNOWN HOLDINGS IN PUBLIC COMPANIES
| Company | Date | Number of shares | Valuation | Valuation date |
| IHS HOLDING LTD. | 2023-02-14 | 18,556 (0.01%) | 85 358 $ | 2023-12-30 |
| TULLOW OIL PLC | 2023-06-22 | 142,500 (0.01%) | 70 701 $ | 2023-12-30 |
COMPANIES PHUTHUMA HAS ACTIVE POSITIONS:
| Company | Position | Start | |
| JSE LIMITED | Chairman | 2022-05-02 | |
| TULLOW OIL PLC | Chairman | 2021-12-31 | |
| IHS HOLDING LIMITED | Director/Board Member | 021-09-30 | |
| ENGEN LTD. | Director/Board Member | – | |
| ENGEN PETROLEUM LTD. | Director/Board Member | – | |
| IHS TOWERS (UNITED STATES) | Director/Board Member | – | |
| BLUE FALCON 179 TRADING (PTY) LTD | Chairman | ||
| PEMBANI REMGRO INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGERS (PTY) LTD | Founder | 2011-12-31 | |
| OPICONSIVIA INVESTMENTS 230 PTY LTD | Director/Board Member | – | |
ABOUT TULLOW OIL PLC
Tullow Oil Plc (Tullow) also appointed Phuthuma Nhleko as an independent non-executive Director and Chairman-designate of Tullow. Phuthuma joined the Board as a non-executive Director on 25 October 2021, and took over as Chairman of Tullow from Dorothy Thompson, CBE, following a suitable handover period and after Dorothy stepped down as Chair.
According to Dorothy Thompson, Chair of Tullow Oil plc,“Phuthuma brings to Tullow excellent and relevant experience, having successfully built a truly pan-African business. He is a widely acclaimed business leader with a deep understanding of Africa and a broad set of relationships across the continent.
He also brings experience from listed companies across a number of international markets, including the UK and Africa. “Phuthuma joins Tullow at a key moment in its development. With a stable balance sheet and a clear strategy underpinned by a commitment to Net Zero by 2030 and to responsible and safe operations, Tullow is well-positioned to re-establish itself as a leader in Africa.
Phuthuma will play an important part in supporting Tullow’s ambitions to be a partner of choice for Governments, and our industry peers as the African oil and gas sector, evolves over the coming decade.”
Phuthuma Nhleko, Chairman-designate responded, “I am very pleased to have been appointed as Chairman-designate of Tullow, a company I have followed with much interest since its inception. I am impressed with the successful turnaround and transformational refinancing that allows Tullow to build on its strong position and reputation within the African oil and gas sector.
“I believe Tullow is uniquely placed to develop the oil and gas resources of its host countries efficiently and safely while minimizing its environmental impact. I look forward to supporting the Tullow team as they grow the business, deliver Shared Prosperity and create value for our investors, staff, host nations and communities.”
Phuthuma expectedly brought his diverse marketing experience of over three decades to Tullow.
Tullow is an independent oil & gas, exploration and production group which is quoted on the London, Irish and Ghanaian stock exchanges (symbol: TLW). The Group has interests in over 40 exploration and production licences across 11 countries including Ghana where it operates the Jubilee and TEN fields. In March 2021, Tullow committed to becoming Net Zero on its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN MTN
Phuthuma was Chief Executive of MTN Group, the leading pan- African telecommunications company, from 2002 to 2011, he helped the MTN group to achieve rapid growth in Africa and the Middle East, gaining over 185 million subscribers, to become one of the largest listed companies in Africa.
In 2013, Phuthuma returned to MTN as a non-executive Director and Chairman until 2019. This included a period as Executive Chairman from 2015 to 2017. He remained part of the international advisory board for the business until August 2021.
MTN awarded Phuthuma R72.2m ($5.6m) in pay and bonuses last year after he negotiated a reduced fine with Nigerian regulators and shook up senior management.
Nhleko was instrumental in leading the management leveraged buy-in to MTN in 2003. At US$700 million, the transaction was the largest management buy in of its kind in South Africa’s history.
In addition, he also successfully concluded in 2006, the acquisition of Investcom Limited, a mobile telecommunications company listed in Dubai, for US$5.5 billion.
Under his leadership, MTN and its subsidiary companies won numerous awards and distinctions including a spot in the top 10 companies in the prestigious American Business Week Survey that identifies companies that show vision, growth and are global companies of the future.
Nhleko, was paid a R30m salary and a R38.2m bonus, according to MTN’s annual report published. The balance was a fee for simultaneously holding a role as non-executive chairman. Nhleko retook the leadership of the Johannesburg-based company on the short-term basis in November 2015, following the resignation of chief executive officer Sifiso Dabengwa. “In order to take on this full-time executive role at short notice, Mr. Nhleko was required to commit 100 percent to the MTN task, and step away for 16 months from all his considerable other various commercial interests,” the wireless operator said. “The board negotiated an appropriate monthly fee and performance-related cash bonus contract with him.”
The compensation was agreed with the businessman, after he was hired to take over from Dabengwa, who took responsibility for the fine in Nigeria, MTN’s biggest market. The penalty was levied for missing a government deadline to disconnect subscribers, who were found to be unregistered in the country, which is battling an Islamist insurgency. The fine was originally set at $5.2bn, of which MTN eventually paid $1bn. Nhleko also hired new CEO Rob Shuter, who joined from Vodafone Group. He’s now back to being non-executive chairperson.
HIS OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Nhleko’s achievements at MTN also included repatriating funds from Iran, reviewing corporate governance standards and implementing a new program designed to benefit those discriminated against during apartheid. The pay deal comes on top of R123m, the executive earned by selling shares late last year.
MTN shares were little changed at the close in Johannesburg at R123.25, valuing the company at R232bn. The stock is 35% below levels before the Nigeria fine was implemented.
After stepping down as Chief Executive of MTN in 2011, Phuthuma was a non-Executive Director at BP Plc (2011-16) and Anglo-American plc (2011-15). He also served previously on the Boards of Nedbank and Old Mutual in South Africa.
Nhleko is the co-founder of black empowerment investment company Phembani Group, which i s bidding for coal mines owned by Anglo American.
Hé Is the Chairman-designate of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd, non-executive Director of South African downstream energy company, Engen Petroleum, and non-Executive Director of IHS Towers, the NYSE-listed Emerging Markets Telecom Infrastructure Provider.
Nhleko was the recipient of the prestigious South African Business Leader of Year, Sunday Times award in 2009.
ABOUT PHEMBANI GROUP
Phembani Group is a financial organization that promotes investments across Africa’s Sub- Saharan region and nine of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Phembani acquired a 20% stake in Engen in 1999. As of February 2017, Phembani leads a consortium that now holds 26% in Engen. The balance of the equity is held by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas).
Engen is the industry leader in South Africa in petroleum products, with an estimated market share in excess of 25%. Engen’s core business is the refining of crude oil (135 000 bpd capacity) and the marketing and retailing of liquid fuel products through an extensive retail network.
Engen has a significant presence in 16 sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries.
Engen’s activities in the petroleum sector span the entire value chain, with the exception of exploration activities. It has a significant presence in 16 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.
Fuel consumption is linked to GDP growth, meaning Engen is well positioned to benefit from the high growth in SSA markets.
With the steady economic growth across the Sub-Saharan region and nine of the fastest growing economies in the world, there’s growing sentiment among investors that, if you’re not investing in the African continent, you probably should be doing so now.
